New contributions have come in and more are
expected for the Challenge Fund which will make it possible to continue the
MISSION3 Matching Gift Opportunity until the end of July as
originally hoped.Gifts from faithful
supporters are making this possible!

As of June 30, donations toward the Matching
Gift Opportunity have reached $270,920
from 963 individual donors. To be eligible for the match, individual
donors mustbe giving for the first time ever, or be current individual donors
who are giving over and above their regular giving, Gifts must be received by
July 31, 2012.

In addition, it is still possible for major
donors to give to increase the Challenge fund. To do so, contact Dave Worth, IM development
director, at dave.worth@abc-usa.org.Your generosity will encourage others to give
even more.

As IM enters its Third Century
of Mission, two
significant trends are emerging. Within the next decade a growing portion
of IM’s long-term missionaries will approach retirement. At the same time,
requests for IM to send new missionaries are increasing. IM’s partners are in
need of missionaries to help people come to faith in Jesus, grow
in their relationship with God and change their worlds through
the power of the Spirit.

“Unless we are very proactive in
helping people to discern their call to international cross-cultural work, we
will face a significant shortfall in global missionaries,” comments Reid
Trulson, IM executive director. “The Mission3 Matching Gift
Opportunity will help us send new personnel into service on location and
strengthen the support for our 100+ current missionaries, development workers
and global consultants.”

Today, more than 4.8 billion
people have yet to experience God’s love through Jesus. “Our global partners
are asking for help,” adds Trulson. “As missionaries and local believers
partner together, their capacity grows to make disciples for Jesus while
meeting pressing human needs, such as poverty, hunger, sickness, education,
conflict and slavery.”